Archive for February, 2015

Sid: My guest by way of telephone is Rebecca Park Totilo. I’m speaking to her…. caught up with her in Wichita, Kansas. And we were so excited about her brand new book it’s called “His Majesty Requests.” What she has done few Christians even comprehend. You see we have Jewish weddings today but Jewish weddings today are very different than the weddings at the time that Jesus walked in the flesh. A lot of what He wrote especially having to do with the royal wedding of the Lamb. He felt everyone would understand in a Jewish culture for Jewish people with Jewish weddings going on all of the time that everyone would understand the symbolism He was using. Well they did but in this generation most Christians don’t have a clue and miss so many wonderful things about the wedding supper of the Lamb, the Royal Wedding you can’t because it’s coming up soon and you’re part of the bride. And there is a dimension of intimacy revealed in the scriptures and revealed in a traditional ancient Jewish wedding that will equip you for the greatest wedding in history. So I have on the telephone Rebecca, and Rebecca some of the things that you went through as a child most Christians would have difficulty. I mean you were saved at 12 you promptly backslid in high school. How did you backslide just a little at a time or what were the major ingredients?

Rebecca: Well it’s not a pretty story but it’s the truth. Actually my father passed away when I had just turned 14 and so you know that’s a critical time in your life as a child when you’re entering the high school years. And of course I was very naive and innocent at that time and had not gone out with guys or anything but yet I because of that void in my life I had sort of fell into that trap of looking for affection and love in the wrong places. And actually it was in my sophomore year of high school that my Driver’s Ed Teacher took me out in the car and attempted to rape me. And of course he was not able to you know get away with it. And so I told my mom what had happened and such and because of all of the, you know, the circulation of stories going around and I was a cheerleader in high school and they didn’t want my reputation to be ruined and everything so they just sort of put it… sort of slipped it under the rug and pretended like it didn’t happen. But the teacher did lose his job and with that because of you know the injustice that had been done to me and I was the one that ended up feeling bad about myself that I had somehow caused this and brought this on to myself that I you know went and found you know affection from guys. And in fact within a couple of weeks later another guy who had taken me out to a sorority party had taken me out to a field and did rape me. And so that was the downhill side for me because I lost my virginity. That one thing that I held on to and felt was very precious and valuable to me the only thing that I thought that I had.

Sid: But then you kept sliding you got into drugs, you got into the occult.

Rebecca: Yes, it was actually through the high school years but I began to you know experiment with drugs and continue to live a partying lifestyle and it just grew deeper and deeper.

Sid: Now out of curiosity you’re a very prophetic type of individual today as a believer, but in your college days as you were into drugs and the New Age you actually saw demons?

Rebecca: Yes.

Sid: Were you afraid of them at all?

Rebecca: No, actually I really loved the spiritual realm and I think that’s what you see in many people today though they’re not necessarily believers and Christians or followers of the Messiah. But yet there’s that inward calling on a person and I had that hunger for the spiritual things but it was going to the wrong direction of course it was in a warped you know…

Sid: It’s a perversion of the real thing.

Rebecca: Exactly and so I had a real love for darkness in fact and I just had felt comfort in the darkness.

Sid: Did you really see a witch change into a cat before your eyes?

Rebecca: Yes she… I was working in a bar and we were closing up and the people, there was only a couple of people left the owner and the bartender and people And I was walking out. And this woman had come in and told us… I don’t know why but for some reason she was really angry with us in there and she came in and told us she was going to put a curse upon us, and everybody sort of laughed and made fun of her. So when I went outside I saw her actually walk around the car and instead of coming around the other side of the car like you would see someone do there was a black cat that came out from behind the car. And she disappeared and she was gone (Chuckle) and very strange. I was living down at the intercity going to college at the time and so there’s all kinds of things going on in that area of town and there’s a lot of bars and voodoo and a lot of witchcraft and things going on. So I was living right in the midst of it.

Sid: You had a vision in which Satan himself came to you what was that like?

Rebecca: Well, it was very close to the time where I think I had come to almost a crossroads in my walk.

Sid: You were suicidal?

Rebecca: Yes, yes because I had done so many drugs and mixing it with alcohol and it was only by a miracle you know that God kept His hand upon my life and didn’t allow me to die. But during that time, and it was one of the darkest periods; you know I could say it was the darkest period of my life where it was the worst place in my life feeling very worthless and useless to anyone else. I was living alone and I had a lot of occultic things in my home so it was a real manifestation of demons in my house. I can remember I used to worship the Rolling Stones music and I just loved Mick Jagger and you know I just listened 12 hours a day, so I was constantly just having this mantra through my head. And so during that time I can remember that Satan appeared before me in a you know a sort of a vision half where he was almost transparent but you could see the figure of his person in front of me and the darkness. He was the beautiful… he came in the image of the image of man and was very beautiful but you know you could see the darkness around him and the red you know at the bottom. And so he was there to entice me to come and to make a vow to him that I would serve him only. And that with that he gave me a promise that “I’ll let you be whatever you want to be a famous world, you know a famous whatever that your heart desires.” And it was at that same time that you know just the lack of direction in my own life that I was seeking to know what I was supposed to do with the rest of my life. Here I was coming to the end you know the last couple years of my college not knowing where I was going to go and do with my life. We also have these fantasies that we want to be somebody famous, rich and famous you know people look up to us. And that night the Lord came to me in a dream too. And I had a dream and I saw the Lord sitting in a boat off the shore and He was calling me out to the boat and He was saying “Come and follow me.” So when I woke up that morning I took out my Bible which I hadn’t looked at in years it was the one from my childhood, the one that I had gotten when I was 12 years old.

Sid: Did he tell you in that dream that this was your last chance?

Rebecca: Yes, He did because…

Sid: Was that scary because you said it wasn’t scary to see the demons; was that scary when God says “This is your last chance?”

Rebecca: Yes, because he had come to me before and he had you know tried to woo me back before and I knew that this was the 3rd time. That he had you know made this where He was actually coming to tell me that “I need to come back.” I was really going too far out and if I took the next step towards Satan that I was going to be lost because I would have gone you know its so deep into the occult and you know to the witchcraft and Satanism that He was telling me that I needed you know to grab a hold of Him. So I did. I took out my Bible and I flipped it open and the scripture was the only I had gotten when I was a child. You know the one that says that if you would deny yourself and pick up your cross and follow Him.

Sid: But the next day your sister starts talking to you about rock and roll music and what effect did that have on you?

Rebecca: Oh boy, well she had touched all of my sacred cows when she talked to me about this stuff and you know I was very fascinated about what she was telling me because I knew these groups intimately. I had a fascinating especially with the Rolling Stones. And it was very interesting to see that at the same time I knew that I had grieved God’s heart and I knew that I just wept for 3 hours and I really didn’t want to give up my gods you know. But I knew the Lord was saying that I needed to lay it down and give these things up and give up my idol worship and to separate myself from these things. And my heart was convicted by that I knew what she was saying was true. So we went home and I was afraid to go back home actually because I knew that once you recognize the presence of demons in your place it’s scary to go back into it. You know the darkness is there and you’re comfortable you know your comforted by that darkness because they’re familiar spirits they’ve been with you all of this time. But now there was a new Spirit upon me you know the Holy Spirit was working in me and beginning to cleanse me from all of this idol worship and all I had gotten into. I was going to have to go back in it and face it and I was afraid. And so my brother-in-law went with me downtown to my apartment and were cleansing out my house and getting rid of all of the albums and books and everything that was you know tied to that.

Sid: Is it true that when you did that you were instantly delivered from drugs and alcohol?

Rebecca: Oh yeah, oh yeah the Lord was very gracious to me (Chuckling) because He instantly removed…

Sid: Yeah, but what I read you used to take handfuls of drugs and drink vodka straight!

Rebecca: Yeah, yeah, that was something.

Sid: Yeah instantly set free!

Rebecca: Yeah, yeah when I came home from the bar that night and this is a scary thing when I tell people…

Sid: We want everyone everywhere to be red hot for the Messiah. That’s what my guest stands for. His name George Otis, Jr. out of the Centennial Group located in Lynnwood, Washington. They are investigative reporters for entire cities, entire nations that are being transformed by the gospel. Not just what is known as revival in this one congregation or that one congregation; praise God for those things, but here in the United States at least they’re not really impacting entire cities. But you were talking about amazing supernatural things that are happening George when believers get together and pray and petition God they find out He answers prayers. In the Island of Fiji what’s going on?

George: Well over the last several years I’ve had the great privilege of visiting Fiji 3 times. We’ve shoot about 200 hours of video footage out there, met multiple times with the President, Prime Minister, most of the great chiefs in the nation, as well as people in small obscure villages and we’ve see a move of God in that nation that is truly rare and wonderful. In May of 2000 the nation of Fiji was shattered by a very bloody coup that was launched by an ethnic Fijian nationalist supernatural nationalist by the name of George Spate. The Fijian government was held hostage for 56 days. Shops that were owned by Indians, people from India, Indo-Fijians were destroyed, were burned out, were looted. It was just an absolute mess and during that time this transformations video which we’ve been talking about somebody brought it into the nation, I think through Australia and people began to watch it over and over and over again at all levels of society. It infused them with hope that even as black as things were at that moment in Fiji’s history that God could still breakthrough and lift them up into light. And that has been happening since the spring of 2000. Almost the entire government now, the government ministries, is filled with born again men and woman of God. They’ve established a new ministry called “The Ministry of Unity” and national reconciliation headed by a Christian. There’s church unity right now in Fiji that I’ve not seen probably anywhere else in the world. Most of the Grand Chiefs across the various Island groups in Fiji have come in the last 18 to 24 months and formally dedicated their land, and their people back to God. And they have interestingly enough they prepared as long as 18 months to even petition God. Using these 18 months to get their hearts cleansed and right before God to deal with problems that they’ve had with other people. In other words to come to God on His terms with clean hands and a pure heart and they’ve had ecologic problems very serious their reefs have been dying, their fish had been going away, their root crops had not been growing. So at the end of their fasting and prayer and repentance they’ve been filling these little wooden bowls with pieces of broken coral, with seawater of there coastal villages or with soil and offering it up to the Lord of host come again and exercise Your Lordship over our people and over our land. Every time that this has happened in the last 20 some months, and it’s happened now in about 3 dozen locations immediately regardless of the weather conditions at the moment it has begun to rain immediately.

Sid: Such power such supernatural power in unity and prayer but you need God for both.

George: And a clean heart, saying God we can’t do it You need to come and God will only come and attach Himself to a people and a place that will welcome Him and invite Him on His terms.

Sid: You’re talking about holiness.

George: That’s right and what has happened instantly after the presence of God descends He’s begun to fix all of the problems in this society. The number of stories I could tell you I wish we had time for, but one particular little village that we filmed in all of their food had gone and they hadn’t seen their staple fish for 55 years. And immediately on that day the last day of a the 21 day fast on that day they caught 4000 large fish in their nets, thousands the next day, thousands the next day. This one little Village of Polbulailai on the Island of Niri is now feeding the entire Island like Joseph did with his storehouses of grain. In another place a polluted water supply that had been polluted for over 4 decades was instantly made pure. Trees straightened up papaya and mango, grapefruit, coconut trees began to bear fruit. Even citrus 12 months out of the year the coral reefs were instantly healed and mangrove crabs began to walk up the beach to feed the people who had nothing. The President and the Prime Minister have turned to God, the present of the senate; the economy is beginning to rebound. I could go on and on and on but in December of this year we’ll release a l hour documentary of what God is doing in the nation. It’s now spreading to other neighboring island countries in the South Pacific. It’s absolutely so glorious I can’t begin to describe it on this program. The good news is it’s not limited to one place God is moving like this today all across the face of the earth. He wants to be invited into our communities that’s principal #1. He is drawn to holiness and humility like Winnie the Pooh is drawn to honey pots that’s principal #2. Corporate revival begins with individual’s obedience. We can get the ball rolling even if we don’t have critical mass and biblical unity attracts the presence of God. Then if just 2 or 3 people, that’s a biblical unity call upon the name of the Lord we then have a majority. Breakthrough prayers release destiny for cities and nations and people groups. The work of God in each place will always be unique so every story what God has done in each of these cities is different as snowflakes.

Sid: You know George I have to believe that when someone sees your video it gives them faith in the prayer just in their family.

George: Yes.

Sid: I mean, yes your after a transformation of a city, a state, a nation but there are people listening now that say “Sid I need a transformation in my family; my family is a mess.” And I believe when people see what’s happened in these entire cities that’s got to give them faith for their families.

George: I completely agree with you and the principals of transformation work at every level be it an individual level, a family level, a church level, a community level, region or a nation the principals are the same. God is the one that wants to be invited into His rightful place because He loves us and He wants to do good for us that’s what He tells us in His word. And He just doesn’t want to see us continuing to kick ourselves in the shin over and over and over again.

Sid: And you said one of the principals you talked about was you don’t need as we discussed in Cali, Columbia their first meeting 25,000, 2 people is a good way to start.

George: That’s absolutely true and we often think that the road to transformation begins like the start of the Boston Marathon with all of those 1000’s of people bunched up waiting for the starters gun to go off. But the first few laps on this road are taken in solitary where we get alone as individuals with God saying “God increase my appetite for those things that are proven to attract Your presence.” If we pray but we aren’t passionate or desperate in the place of prayer ask God to give you an increase appetite for prayer or humility. Humility to me is the single most important attractor in all of the universe to the presence of God. If we will humble ourselves, if we will become broken and contrite God will make a beeline to our address, to our doorstep.

Sid: I’m speaking to my friend Bob Fischer in Tiberias, Israel. We’re talking about his book “Full circle” which has information that’s in the Dead Sea Scrolls that fills in the missing blanks. How would you like to know the mindset of Jewish people just before Yeshua came in the flesh? How would you like to know what the Essenes believed? The Dead Sea Scrolls tells us and based on their belief Yeshua had to be the Messiah and that’s why, if not the majority almost all the first followers of the Messiah were from the Essene group. The other two groups were Sadducees, Pharisees and then the third were the Essenes. But when you hear these quotes I mean of them they sound like a message from the New Covenant. How could they possibly sound like a message from the New Covenant written way before Yeshua came in the flesh? Easy, the same Spirit that was in Jesus was on these. Because this was Bob Fischer, this was the godly remnant within Judaism of the day.

Bob: Absolutely Sid, its mind boggling to read their understanding for example of the divinity of the Messiah who they expected. They said for example from one of the fragments from Cave 4, and I quote in part “I will be a Father to him and He will be a Son to Me.” This referred to the Branch of David who will rise with the interpreter of the law in the last days as it is written.” Wow! “I will be a Father to Him and He will be a Son to Me from the house of David.” Then we read from another fragment “And He will be great over the earth, He will be designated by His name, He will be called the Son of God. And they will call Him the Son of the Most High. His kingdom will be an eternal kingdom and all of His paths in truth and uprightness; the earth will be in truth and all will make peace. The sword will cease in the earth and all of the cities will pay Him homage. (And get this now) “He is a great God among the gods.”

Sid: Hm. Now when was this written approximately?

Bob: Sometime between 250 BC and the time of Yeshua, but probably most of these were written early.

Sid: So this could have been written Mishpochah 250 years before Jesus came to earth in bodily form and read that quote again that is so amazing.

Bob: “And He will be great over the earth, Great will He will be called and He will be designated by His name He will be called the Son of God. And they will call Him the Son of the Most High. His kingdom will be an eternal kingdom and all of His paths in truth and uprightness; the earth will be in truth and all will make peace. The sword will cease in the earth and all of the cities will pay Him homage. He is a great God among the gods.” For those that are interested that’s 4Q246 I7-9. And there’s one more I’d like to…

Sid: So you feel these quotes came approximate 250 BC and I mean I never knew that Judaism believed this and taught this at that time.

Bob: It’s fascinating…

Sid: How could it be so hidden from us today?

Bob: You know that’s a good question, these Dead Sea Scrolls now remember were only discovered in 1947. By the way, the first 3 of the Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered were sold to the Hebrew University on the very eve of the day that Israel became a State. And I am absolutely convinced that God was saying something here “I’m giving you your land and simultaneously I’ve telling you more about Myself.” Now I think that this was rather remarkable, why? Because this is very contemporary really in terms of historical events and remember what happened. These scrolls were spread out in the hands of all kinds of people who had no idea of their value or their importance. People were trying to make a dollar or a shekel. They were suppressed, they were hidden, they were bartered you know they weren’t…it was an absolute colossal exercise in avarice and greed and misunderstanding.

Sid: Listen, I can understand why the devil tried to put a monkey wrench in this but it’s out now. Tell me some more quotes written a few hundred years before Yeshua came in the flesh.

Bob: Okay, let’s talk about I’ve got two or three more that refer to His divinity, how about this one from Cave 1. “For behold God leaves His place and descends upon the heights of the earth. The mountains beneath Him melt and the valley’s split apart like wax next the fire, like water poured down a slope; all because of Jacob’s crime, because of the sins of the House of Israel.

Sid: Hm.

Bob: Here was another one that I think was interesting. “And You Yahweh chose the land of Judah and established your covenant with David so that he would like a shepherd like a prince over your people; and would sick in front of You on the throne of Israel forever.” I’m only reading a small portions of them; some of these are pages long.

Sid: Now when they referred to God back then they referred to God by the name of Yahweh or other names?

Bob: They understood Him to be Yahweh of the Father.

Sid: And for those that don’t understand the name Yahweh explain where that came from.

Bob: It is a Jewish, or a rather Hebrew word that means “I AM.” You know when He was asked what His name was He actually said “I Will Be.” He actually said “I Was, I Am, and I Will Be.” And in Hebrew the form this takes are the letters YHWH. It’s actually its pronounced Yahweh. And this is His name and it really means “I AM, or I Was, or I Will Be.”

Sid: Read me a few more quotes.

Bob: Okay, “They will be My people and I will be there God; and I chose the descendants of Jacob from among all of those I saw; and I registered for Me the first born son and consecrated him to Me forever, and ever.” Now He when I said “For Me.” I had written in Yeshua there because it’s a blank. You have to remember these are fragments. Now we can get into the characteristics of the Messiah, they wrote… they understood that He would be atoning in His nature. You know that He would atone for the sins of the world and they understood that He would be from the lion of the tribe of David. They understood that he would appear in the eschatological end time future. And there are many really exciting…

Sid: So did they from what you can extrapolate did they believe in the two comings of the Messiah?

Bob: Yes they did and it was rather fascinating they believed in His coming the first time and they believed He’s coming back in the same sense that Christian theology had an understanding, believed in the first coming and the second coming.

Sid: Was there anything within their belief system from your study of the Dead Sea Scrolls that would cause them to question whether Jesus was the Messiah?

Bob: Absolutely not! They… that’s why they embraced Him in droves you know when He showed up they were hanging around waiting for Him to come. You know remember we’re talking about probably 100’s of 1000’s of these Nazarene Essene Jews that had all of this information available to them in the Dead Sea Scrolls. And out of the mainline history of idiots that understood the three part God head.

Sid: Now most Christians will say grace came in the New Testament not the Old Testament age yet the Essenes understood grace.

Bob: Oh, you could find Pauline theology written all over the Dead Sea Scrolls and of course that was just one of those…

Sid: So do you think Paul was an Essene?

Bob: I don’t know Paul said he was a Pharisees.

Sid: Well that’s true.

Bob: But you know Paul certainly had an appreciation for the Essene theology.

Sid: So you’re saying to me that Paul would quote things that sounds like it came directly from the Essenes.

Bob: Absolutely. And you know what happened Paul had a miraculous change in his life on the road to Damascus. You know he was walking to Damascus for the purpose of abusing the Nazarene Essenes. And somewhere along the way Yeshua stopped him. And when this encounter was complete Paul continued on his way to Damascus to minister to these people rather than to bring them harm. So there was an incredible transformation in his life at that point on the Damascus Road.

Sid: Well I guess from what you told us what the Pharisees believed for him to go from the Pharisaical belief to the Essene belief, or the New Covenant belief he had to have something supernatural to happen. I mean basically the Pharisees had like their minds were engrained with cement. And as you point out the major views of the Pharisees were they believed in the Talmud, the oral law, they believed in only one God, not a God with a triune nature, and they believed that there would be peace on earth when Messiah comes. So therefore those 3 basic beliefs would stop someone from believing that Jesus is the Messiah.

Bob: Of course. Let me read you a couple of quotes that sound like they came right out of the pages of one of Paul’s Epistles and yet they’re out of the Dead Sea Scrolls with respect to grace. Just short quotes from much longer ones but the point being and here’s an excerpt that I quote from a scroll from Cave 4. “He was…He had circumcised their hearts and He has saved them by His grace, and He has set their feet on firm ground.” That’s one quote, here’s another quote from Cave 1. “For no one is just in Your judgment or innocent at Your trial, only by Your grace is man justified; by the abundance of Your compassion is He purified.”

Sid: Now you point out that our knowledge of the Essenes comes from people like recognized Jewish Historians like Josephus. How about any of the church fathers did they talk about the Essenes?

Bob: Only to criticize them, it’s interesting we get a lot of our information from the church, the early church father who were in the process of de-Judaizing the early church. They went off…

Sid: We’re out of time, Mishpochah this is the most fascinating reading for such a time as this.